BMW MOT pass rates by model

Common questions

What is the MOT pass rate for BMW?

Across 1,883,490 recorded MOT tests, 79.3% of BMW tests ended in a pass, against a national average of 72.3%. Adjusted for the age and mileage of the cars tested, the figure is 80.4%. A make-level figure blends very different cars, so the individual model pages are the more useful comparison.

Which BMW is the most reliable on MOT evidence?

Of the BMW models with enough data to compare fairly, the M3 has the highest age-and-mileage-adjusted pass rate at 88.3%, ranking 7 of 262 models nationally. This reflects how often cars meet the MOT standard, not how often they break down.

What do BMW cars most often fail their MOT on?

The most commonly recorded failure item across BMW tests is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", appearing in 15.9% of failed tests. One failed test can list several items, so these shares do not add up to 100%.

Why do some BMW models not have a pass rate ranking?

A model is only ranked when its tested examples cover a wide enough spread of ages and mileages for a fair comparison. 15 of the 32 BMW models here qualify. For the rest we publish the unadjusted rate and the failure patterns, but not a rank, because comparing unadjusted rates mostly sorts cars by how new they are.

How to read these figures

Why the adjusted rate is the fair one

An unadjusted pass rate is strongly driven by the age and mileage of the cars being tested, not by how well they were built. A model bought mainly as a lightly used second car will look better than an identical car sold to high-mileage drivers. Adjusting for age and mileage compares each model against cars that have lived a similar life.

For a specific car, its own record beats any model average — check that vehicle’s MOT history and read what testers actually recorded against it.